The Favorite Daughter

This story is about family, secrets, lost, love, and so much more. All I can say is once I started reading it I did not want to put it down. Amazing characters and fabulous story. Highly recommend it.

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health. Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home. My Thoughts: Colleen and Hallie were as close as two sisters could be until the betrayal that changed everything between them. I was immediately caught up in the family stories that unfolded in The Favorite Daughter, and for most of the book, I was angry with Hallie, on Colleen’s behalf. But then, almost like turning a page and finding a completely different version of reality, another perspective revealed itself. The pub that was the centerpiece of the family life in Watersend was based on an Irish pub and another family story that was only fleshed out near the end. A journey to Ireland, a travel memoir that incorporates Colleen’s search for home, and the ultimate reunion kept me turning pages until the end. 4.5 stars.

This was a first time read for me. I did not know the writer Patti Callahan Henry. The title intrigued me, and I'm very glad I chose to read it! I will be reading more of her books. The characters spoke to my soul.

I seem to gravitate to stories like this - stories where a character leaves home and returns years later because of some difficulty or tragedy. This one was written with such wonderful descriptions. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I fell in love with the story, the characters and Ms Henry’s gift of writing. Highly recommend the book !

Lovely story with great background. loveable characters . Storyline slow and did not keep me interested in places but subject matter is very important.

I picked this book because it was about the south, but other than descriptions of places in South Carolina, there wasn’t much south in it. It was more about Ireland. Both siblings of Coleen who grew up in the south, were not given a southern accent at all by the narrator. I could have been reading about a family anywhere.

This book was excellent. I really liked how it made something good (broken familyrelationships repaired) come from dealing with the issues of dementia, which is a horrible disease! All too often we look at the negatives of the disease and fail to look for positive things that happen to loved ones of the person with dementia as they deal with the dementia issues.

Very pleased with the service and price

Excellent book! Well written.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had several twists and turns it made me smile and cry all good attributes of a great read.